According to several media outlets, Chelsea first owner Roman Abramovich and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salam were at the center of the great prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
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Ukraine handed over 55 prisonersincluding pro-Russian leader and tycoon Viktor Medvedtsjuk.
Russia, for its part, has surrendered 255 prisoners. Most of these are said to have been involved in the bloody battle for the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
In addition, there were eight foreigners, many of whom were sentenced to death in the Donetsk “people’s republic”.
British prisoner John Harding (59) tells the second Daily mail that Roman Abramovich was involved in the negotiations. Bloomberg writes that they have confirmation from three people about Abramovich’s role in the exchange.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner are among those released – watch the video:
Not mentioned
According to Bloomberg Abramovich and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman met in Riyadh at the end of August as part of talks that led to the prisoner exchange.
The Kremlin-controlled large Russian media did not mention that oligarch Abramovich was involved in the negotiations, for reasons unknown.
Neither a spokesperson for Abramovich nor the Saudi Arabian government commented on the matter to Bloomberg.
On the other hand, it is a fact that the prisoner exchange has been met with criticism from the far right in Russian politics. The fearless Igor Girkin, who believes the Kremlin is not tough enough in Ukraine, writes on Telegram that the prisoner swap is “unbelievable stupidity”.
He believes it is “worse than a crime” for foreign foreign fighters to be traded. Girkin believes it is particularly inappropriate to do something like this in the same week that Vladimir Putin orders a partial mobilization.
I had to sell
The Ukrainian foreign ministry already thanked Crown Prince Salman on Thursday for his “important role” in the negotiations for the release of the foreign fighters, who were transported to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh after their release.
Roman Abramovich took part in the peace talks this spring and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked US President Joe Biden not to impose sanctions on Abramovich, as he could be a helpful person in the negotiations.
However, Britain and the EU imposed sanctions on Abramovich. This meant that he had to sell the Chelsea football team. In late May, the Premier League approved the sale from the Russian, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, to American businessman Todd Boehly and a consortium. The price was 4.25 billion pounds, which is almost 50 billion crowns at today’s exchange rate.
With agreement on wheat
Abramovich promised to donate the proceeds to a foundation for the benefit of the victims of the war in Ukraine. However, according to Bloomberg, the funds are frozen.
The Financial Times wrote this spring that Putin personally approved that Abramovich could be such a bridge between countries. The multibillionaire never broke up with the Russian president. For a time, Abramovich sat in the upper house of parliament after being the governor of the region called Chukotka, which is located at the tip of the Pacific Ocean, in the so-called “Far East” of Russia.
Roman Abramovich was also involved in the negotiation of the so-called wheat deal in July, as photos of the negotiations in Istanbul show. It meant that the grain could finally be exported out of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
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